I had a chat with a friend today that really got me thinking more deeply about something that I have been trying to work out for a while. My friend is a thoughtful, caring person who tries hard to do the right thing. She’s also a busy working mother of three. She was saying that while she cares about […]
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Toothsome Toothpaste – why try it?
I’ve been working on some new toothpastes to flesh out my range at The Apothecary, and I realised I had so much to say about them that I needed to devote a whole post to the topic! I use the Spotless toothpaste as my base recipe for The Apothecary toothpaste range. I wrote quite a […]
Beeswax DIY 4 – bars, balms and butters: Lip balm and healing salve
One of the main reasons I wanted to introduce you to beeswax is so that you can use it to make lip balms. I hope I have convinced you that beeswax is worth using despite its slightly special requirements. I have explained why we’d want to use it, how to melt it and mix it, […]
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Wood & leather part 2: Clean and shine your leather and wood
The recipe I’m going to talk about today is very, super simple and can be used quite regularly. It is mainly to clean both wood and leather, and it also nourishes both materials and give them a lovely feeling and sheen. It is completely safe and edible and can even be used as a salad […]
Wood & leather part 1: Why to avoid commercial wood and leather cleaners and polishes
Commercial polish and cleaners for use on leather and wood are things you really want to avoid. They consist mainly of hydrocarbons distilled from crude petroleum oil, such as naphtha, as well as synthetic waxes, solvents, artificial fragrances, preservatives, surfactants, and propellants if they are in an aerosol form. Is this cocktail of hazardous ingredients and likely carcinogens really something we […]
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Beeswax DIY 3 – cleaning up
If you intend to use beeswax often, it is worth having a separate set of utensils designated for the purpose. This means you won’t have to be a perfectionist when it comes to getting every last speck of wax off your favourite pot, jug or spoon. That said, I don’t have a separate set myself, […]
Beeswax DIY 2 – how to melt it
Although beeswax needs to be melted in order to be mixed, it has a relatively low melting point of 62-64 degrees centigrade. This means that while double boiling is required, it’s a standard home kitchen affair. Also, you won’t need to heat the other oils in your mixture to a temperature that will damage them. […]
Beeswax DIY 1 – is it worth the effort?
Beeswax is an amazingly useful substance that of course comes directly from nature, thanks to the bees, is relatively inexpensive, and is as astoundingly versatile as it is bursting with benefits. All of which makes it a perfect candidate for being a star here at spotless. However two things have made me hesitant about letting […]
Welcome back
Hello. Well, it has been a while. Two years in fact, since I last put up a post, and four since we launched on 10/10/10. What has happened in the interim? On a personal front, my family life has been all-consuming and I needed to immerse myself in it thoroughly for a while. There have […]
Wartless: Get rid of warts the spotless way
My sister-in-law recently had a few large plantar warts surgically removed from her foot. The treatment seemed pretty barbaric and she was in a lot of pain following the operation, which had left her with two craters on her foot. The worst of it all was that the surgeon had not managed to remove all […]
